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Sometimes, a pivot isn't triggered by a failure. Sometimes, it happens when you’re winning. You can have the perfect life on paper - the apartment by the beach, the successful business, the long-term relationship - and still feel a quiet, persistent exhaustion. It’s that slow build of burnout that whispers: you are running 100 k’s an hour in the wrong direction. But what happens when you finally brave that change, only to face a hurdle you never saw coming? Jo Yates began her career studying analogue photography in the UK, right on the edge of the digital revolution. As the industry shifted beneath her feet, she was forced to re-educate herself - pivoting from photography into video production, then into large-scale event and marketing production here in Australia.  But alongside her creative career, Jo had a quiet safety-net hustle: flipping properties. What started as a way to create financial security slowly grew into something much bigger - until it became impossible to ignore. Then life intervened. After moving to Noosa, Jo was faced with the covid lockdown AND a diagnosis that forced her to stop, reassess, and reinvent her life yet again. It became the ultimate pivot - one that reframed her relationship with work, success, and what really mattered. Today, Jo runs Bricks and More, a property renovation and buyer’s advocacy business with a difference - combining her creative thinking with commercial strategy to build homes that are genuinely meaningful to the people who live in them. In this episode, we talk about adaptability, resilience, rebuilding after crisis, and why you don’t need a dramatic leap to change your life - just a clear vision and the courage to take the next small step THE END BITS: Want more from Sarah Davidson? Check out her podcast Seize The Yay. Discover more Mamamia podcasts here. Feedback: [email protected]  Share your story, feedback, or dilemma! Send us a voice message, and one of our Podcast Producers will get back to you ASAP. Rate or review us on Apple by clicking on the three dots in the top right-hand corner, click Go To Show then scroll down to the bottom of the page, click on the stars at the bottom and write a review. CREDITS: Guest: Jo Yates Host: Sarah Davidson Executive Producer: Courtney Ammenhauser Senior Producer: Sally Best Audio Producer: Thom Lion  This show was brought to you in partnership with Charles Sturt University. Australia's largest and most experienced online uni. Take the next step. Search Charles Sturt University online. Complete our short survey about education for for a chance to win a $1,000 gift voucher in our quarterly draw! https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8467038/Ch Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when the "dream job" you hustled so hard to get...suddenly disappears? You're trapped in the story of who you think you should be, convinced you only fit into one box. When life tears up the script, that loss of identity can be paralysing. But what if that ending is actually the best thing that ever happened to you? What if the thing you’re doing as a "side hobby" is actually an empire waiting to be built? Tori Clapham is the powerhouse founder behind the boutique fitness brand, Peaches Pilates. Today, she oversees an empire with ten studios, an app used in 54 countries, and over $4 million in annual revenue. But the path there wasn't a straight line. Tori began as a performing arts student, moving from Far North Queensland to NYC and eventually landing a coveted creative role at MTV. Everything changed when she was made redundant. Left with a $10,000 cheque and a major life decision, Tori looked back at the casual Pilates sessions she ran for colleagues during lunch breaks and realized her "hobby" was actually her calling. She took a massive gamble, using her redundancy pay and travel savings to sign a lease on a tiny "shoebox" studio in Bondi. In this empowering episode of Pivot Club, Sarah and Tori cover the grit of DIY renovations, the risks involved when her husband quit his corporate job to join the team, and how their lo-fi workout videos accidentally prepared them for a global pandemic. They also dig into the "mini-pivot" of motherhood and how to build a business that serves your life, rather than the other way around. Get ready to learn why your biggest setbacks are often the things that propel you the most. THE END BITS: Want more from Sarah Davidson? Check out her podcast Seize The Yay. Discover more Mamamia podcasts here. Feedback: [email protected]  Share your story, feedback, or dilemma! Send us a voice message, and one of our Podcast Producers will get back to you ASAP. Rate or review us on Apple by clicking on the three dots in the top right-hand corner, click Go To Show then scroll down to the bottom of the page, click on the stars at the bottom and write a review. CREDITS: Guest: Tori Clapham  Host: Sarah Davidson Executive Producer: Courtney Ammenhauser Senior Producer: Sally Best Audio Producer: Thom Lion  This show was brought to you in partnership with Charles Sturt University. Australia's largest and most experienced online uni. Take the next step. Search Charles Sturt University online. Complete our short survey about education for for a chance to win a $1,000 gift voucher in our quarterly draw! https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8467038/Ch Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when a six-month holiday turns into a 14-year life chapter? You pack a bag for a gap year in the snow and accidentally stumble into a whole new world - a career, a husband, a mortgage, and three children. On paper, it’s the fairytale expat dream. But eventually, the adventure stops feeling like freedom and starts feeling like distance. Georgia Louise was living that dream as a ski patroller in Canada. However, when the global pandemic hit, her perception of being "a flight away" changed to feeling "a world away". That was the moment of the pivot: The realisation that to move forward, she had to go back to where she started - but as a completely different person. In this episode of Pivot Club, Sarah Davidson talks to Georgia about the decision to pack up over a decade of life into seven suitcases to chase a dream she’d been ignoring for years: To become a nurse. Georgia opens up about the "messy middle" of relocating a family of five to regional New South Wales with no credit rating, no local employment history and nothing but a heartfelt letter to convince a landlord to take a chance on them. We unpack the reality of dismantling a comfortable life to start from scratch, the humility of sitting in a university lecture hall with 18-year-olds as a mature-age student and how Georgia uses her thriving social media platform to fund her studies. Join us for a conversation about the logistics of moving a family across the globe when the pull of home becomes too loud to ignore. Get ready to be inspired by a woman who is proving that it is never too late to go back to school. THE END BITS: Want more from Sarah Davidson? Check out her podcast Seize The Yay. Discover more Mamamia podcasts here. Feedback: [email protected]  Share your story, feedback, or dilemma! Send us a voice message, and one of our Podcast Producers will get back to you ASAP. Rate or review us on Apple by clicking on the three dots in the top right-hand corner, click Go To Show then scroll down to the bottom of the page, click on the stars at the bottom and write a review. CREDITS: Guest: Tim Abbott Host: Sarah Davidson Executive Producer: Courtney Ammenhauser Senior Producer: Sally Best Audio Producer: Thom Lion  This show was brought to you in partnership with Charles Sturt University. Australia's largest and most experienced online uni. Take the next step. Search Charles Sturt University online. Complete our short survey about education for for a chance to win a $1,000 gift voucher in our quarterly draw! https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8467038/Ch Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when you need a gap year from real life? When you’ve worked hard, climbed the corporate ladder and saved every penny to buy your first apartment in the big city, only to find yourself in a trap? Tim Abbott was living the quintessential city life. By 28, he had cracked the Sydney property market, secured a stable corporate career, and built a thriving side hustle making memes for over 100,000 Instagram followers. But behind the scenes, a shocking $11,500 quarterly strata bill and the crushing weight of the cost-of-living crisis brought him to breaking point. Tim realised he was "cosplaying adulthood" in a life he couldn't afford and didn't enjoy. So, he engineered what he calls a "Financial Gap Year." In this episode of Pivot Club, Sarah Davidson speaks with Tim about his decision to trade his laptop for a tractor. Tim explains how he quit his job in digital marketing, rented out his apartment, and moved to a rural farm in Queensland to work on a timber plantation. Now, living in a caravan and cutting his expenses by 90%, he is on a mission to regain his financial freedom with a massive goal in mind: To save $100,000 in just 12 months. We unpack the "ego death" of leaving a "cool" city identity for high-vis and manual labour, the unexpected joy found in a simple existence, and how to tell the difference between what society wants for you and what you actually want for yourself. Join us for an honest and hilarious conversation about taking back control of your own timeline. THE END BITS: Want more from Sarah Davidson? Check out her podcast Seize The Yay. Discover more Mamamia podcasts here. Feedback: [email protected]  Share your story, feedback, or dilemma! Send us a voice message, and one of our Podcast Producers will get back to you ASAP. Rate or review us on Apple by clicking on the three dots in the top right-hand corner, click Go To Show then scroll down to the bottom of the page, click on the stars at the bottom and write a review. CREDITS: Guest: Tim Abbott Host: Sarah Davidson Executive Producer: Courtney Ammenhauser Senior Producer: Sally Best Audio Producer: Thom Lion  This show was brought to you in partnership with Charles Sturt University. Australia's largest and most experienced online uni. Take the next step. Search Charles Sturt University online. Complete our short survey about education for for a chance to win a $1,000 gift voucher in our quarterly draw! https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8467038/Ch Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when you have the ‘perfect’ corporate job at a top-tier firm with a clear path to partnership, but deep down, you feel a pull towards something else? For Alex Marks, the founder of New York’s cult-favourite ‘Sushi Counter’, that pull wasn’t just a distraction - it was the catalyst for trading a high-flying legal career for a world of total uncertainty. Before she was serving thousands of rolls a day, Alex was a successful M&A lawyer at the top-tier firm Herbert Smith Freehills. She loved the late nights, the adrenaline, and the "in the trenches" camaraderie. But a dream transfer to New York became the catalyst for her pivot when she faced an immediate culture clash. Realising the US corporate world was an "individual sport" she didn't want to play, Alex was faced with a choice: Stay in a job that wasn't a fit, or risk it all. She chose risk. Pouring her entire $100,000 USD life savings into an idea, she quit her job and, a week later, signed a lease for a tiny shop to sell the Australian-style sushi she couldn't find anywhere in the city. In this episode of Pivot Club, Sarah Davidson speaks with Alex about this massive industry leap. They unpack the "messy middle" of her entire journey: From the "primitive" Excel model that convinced her to take the leap, to the humbling reality of hand-filling 50,000 soy sauce fish with a syringe in her living room. Alex shares the unfiltered story of how she navigated intense online backlash just one week after opening and how she scaled from a team of one (plus a supportive boyfriend) to a staff of 30. Join us for a raw and practical lesson in naive optimism, a look into the grit required to build a business from the ground up and a powerful reminder that sometimes, the fear of regret is far scarier than the fear of failure.   THE END BITS: Want more from Sarah Davidson? Check out her podcast Seize The Yay. Discover more Mamamia podcasts here. Feedback: [email protected]  Share your story, feedback, or dilemma! Send us a voice message, and one of our Podcast Producers will get back to you ASAP. Rate or review us on Apple by clicking on the three dots in the top right-hand corner, click Go To Show then scroll down to the bottom of the page, click on the stars at the bottom and write a review. CREDITS: Guest: Alex Marks Host: Sarah Davidson Executive Producer: Courtney Ammenhauser Senior Producer: Sally Best Audio Producer: Thom Lion This show was brought to you in partnership with Charles Sturt University. Australia's largest and most experienced online uni. Take the next step. Search Charles Sturt University online. Complete our short survey about education for for a chance to win a $1,000 gift voucher in our quarterly draw! https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8467038/Ch Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.